Soundcheck

A 'Bookend' To Change the World?

Friday, February 15, 2008

Neil Young recently told reporters, "I think that the time when music could change the world is past." But for longtime New York radio host Pete Fornatale, an album born in the social and political turmoil of 1968 still holds great potential. He joins us to talk about the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Bookends."

Music and the Power to Change

At a press conference for his new Crosby Stills Nash & Young documentary, Neil Young told reporters that “the time when music could change the world is past.” It’s time for science and spirituality so save the planet, the 62-year-old songwriter added. Perhaps Young is on to something. Or perhaps music plays an indirect role in social or political change. Tim Riley, music commentator for NPR's "Here and Now" and author of "Fever: How Rock 'n' Roll Transformed Gender in America" joins us.

Also: Longtime classic rock disc jockey Pete Fornatale shares his thoughts, and we take your comments and calls.

Tell us: Is Neil Young right? Do you think music can still change the world? Did it ever?

Neil Young's Feb. 8 press conference in Berlin
Tim Riley's Rileyrockindex.com

Simon, Garfunkel, and 'Bookends'

The classic Simon & Garfunkel album "Bookends" was released in 1968, an election year filled with social turmoil and an increasingly unpopular war. Forty years later, the political landscape in the United States is filled with the rhetoric of "change," some of it aimed at the war in Iraq. But can music play a role in that change? Longtime radio host Pete Fornatale joins us to share how "Bookends" resonated in 1968 and still does today.